Amelia Earhart
Amelia Earhart is a BrainPOP Social Studies that launched on September 20, 2003. Summary At an outdoor picnic, Moby asks Tim to put mayonnaise on his hot dog. As Tim is about to, the mayonnaise is snatched away. Tim gets out the binoculars, and sees Cassie and Rita in an airplane. As he wonders why they are in an airplane, they snatch his binoculars as well, and drop a letter asking about Amelia Earhart. At the end of the video, Tim and Moby duck under the plane as it charges towards them. Appearances *Tim *Moby *Cassie *Rita Transcript * Amelia Earhart/Transcript Quiz * Amelia Earhart/Quiz FYI Quotables Here are some quotations from Amelia Earhart! “Adventure is worthwhile in itself." “Never do things others can do and will do if there are things others cannot do or will not do.” “The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward.” “The most effective way to do it, is to do it.” “Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others.” Unsolved Mysteries After Amelia Earhart disappeared over the Pacific Ocean in 1937, the most widely accepted explanation was that she and her navigator, Fred Noonan, ran out of fuel, crashed into the ocean, and died. But like many other mysterious events, Earhart’s disappearance gave rise to numerous conspiracy theories. After Japan bombed the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in 1941, a rumor started that Earhart had actually flown at the request of the U.S. government and was taking aerial photographs of Japanese military installations in the Pacific when she disappeared. According to this theory, Earhart was shot down by the Japanese military and held as a prisoner of war on the island of Saipan. Some even claimed that the Japanese government forced Earhart to make anti-American radio broadcasts during World War II! However, this theory has been thoroughly debunked. Recently, a group known as the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) proposed that Earhart and Noonan actually lived as castaways for a short time on the once-uninhabited atoll of Nikumaroro, also known as Gardner Island. Since a radio signal — possibly emanating from Earhart’s plane — was heard for several days after she disappeared, this theory holds more weight than the POW theory. TIGHAR has even located official documents indicating that around 1940, remnants of a campfire, a woman’s shoe, and other artifacts — perhaps even including a human skeleton — were found on the seemingly-deserted island by a British colonial officer. Could this have been Earhart? It’s impossible to say. In spite of the circumstantial evidence, no physical evidence has been found, leaving the mystery of Earhart’s death as puzzling as it was 70 years ago. Famous Faces The only aviator more well-known than Amelia Earhart was Charles Lindbergh. A onetime mail pilot, Lindbergh became the first man to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927. In fact, one of Earhart’s nicknames was “Lady Lindy!” The top dance craze of the time, the Lindy Hop, was named after Lindbergh, and he was so well-known that his name remained synonymous with aviation for decades. His notoriety grew when his infant son, Charles Jr., was kidnapped and murdered; the subsequent investigation and trial became a media circus that caused Lindbergh and his family to leave America and settle in France and England. But unlike Earhart, who is still viewed as an important feminist icon, Lindbergh’s image tarnished over the years. He visited Nazi Germany several times when he lived in Europe, and he once accepted a medal from Hermann Goering, the head of the Nazi air force. He also shared a belief with the Nazis that some people are naturally superior to others. When Lindbergh returned to America in the late 1930s, he became the most prominent public spokesman for the America First movement, which sought to keep America out of World War II. Many believed that he sided with the Nazis, and when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in December 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt refused to let Lindbergh join the military. After the war, Lindbergh became far less outspoken, and he even became a brigadier general within the U.S. Army Air Corps. But he is still remembered as much for his connection with Nazism as he is for his achievements in aviation. Quirky Stuff The next time you’re in northeast Kansas, why not stop by the Amelia Earhart Birthplace Museum? It's located at 223 North Terrace Street in Atchison, just 50 miles outside of Kansas City. The museum is owned and run by the Nintey-Nines, the organization of female aviators that Earhart co-founded. And it has been fully restored to look just like it did at the turn of the 20th century! Located in a house built by Earhart’s grandfather, the museum features a wealth of Amelia memorabilia. You can learn how she began her rat-shooting hobby in order to protect Atchison from the black plague; her relationship with James Ferocious, her beloved-yet-terrifying childhood dog; and the long afternoons she spent playing a game called Bogie with her sister and cousins. No trip to the Birthplace Museum is complete before you take the 10-minute drive to nearby Warnock Lake, where you’ll find the Amelia Earhart Earthwork. This is a one-acre portrait of Earhart composed of stone, permanent plantings, and other natural materials. Dedicated on Amelia’s 100th birthday in 1997 and created by artist Stan Herd, you have to climb a hill in order to view the whole gigantic thing! FYI Comic Category:BrainPOP Episodes Category:Social Studies Category:Famous Historical Figures Category:U.S. History Category:Women's History Category:2003 Episodes Category:Episodes in September Category:World History Category:Transportation Category:September 2003 Episodes